Copley-Fairlawn teachers reject contract

Oct. 02--COPLEY TWP. -- For the first time in 30 years, labor negotiations in Copley-Fairlawn City Schools have reached an impasse.

Teachers and administrators began negotiations in the spring. After the current contract expired in June, a federal mediator was brought in to work out growing disagreements over pay.

Then, last month, teachers rejected the three-year deal, which granted 2 percent annual raises following a three-year pay freeze under the expired contract.

"After reviewing the Tentative Agreement, 75 percent of the teachers overwhelmingly agreed that working conditions proposed were not acceptable for the level of sacrifice and achievement teachers have attained," said Jay Wise, spokesman for the Copley Teachers Association.

Superintendent Brian Poe, surprised by the vote, said all parties had "signed off" on the tentative agreement. Poe has yet to speak with union leadership following the vote.

Under the previous contract, teachers agreed to a pay freeze and no step increases. The agreement was struck in 2011, just months before Ohio voters would reject Senate Bill 5, which sought to revoke unions' ability to collectively bargain.

This time around, there is no labor-busting law looming over the union's authority.

The 2 percent annual increases would add $600,000 per year to the district's $12 million budget for teachers' salaries, administrators said. Most teachers also would be eligible for automatic step increases, though no step increases -- forfeited under the prior contract -- would be awarded retroactively.

The contract also would double employee health-care contributions by 2016. In the first year of the contract, administrators estimate teachers would contribute $80,000 more toward $2.3 million in overall health insurance costs.

Administrators, however, are quick to point out that health-care costs are expected to rise faster than what teachers are being asked to contribute.

Plus, Poe said, there is only one district in the county in which teachers pay less for their insurance packages.

Another major labor change is a shift from seniority to performance, a move required by state law in all new contracts.

Under the provision, administrators faced with deciding who to lay off or hire back would first consider teacher performance, as defined by the state's prescriptive Ohio Teacher Evaluation System. Seniority would be used to break a tie.

Under the tentative contract, first-year educators with a bachelor's degree would earn $38,569 by the fall of 2016, up from $36,345 today. About 83 percent of Ohio schools pay less for starting teachers, according to labor contracts analyzed by the Ohio Education Association and the Beacon Journal.

Excluding benefits, Copley-Fairlawn teachers earned $61,337 on average in the 2012-13 school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Half of Summit County schools paid more.

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or [email protected].

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